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Saturday, 25 May 2013

Raf Simon's took to the challenge of merging his new Dior to the world of Resort collections for the first time. Set in [not so sunny] Monaco, Simons was forced to pitch a plastic covered, white box-like structure next to a murky and grey raging Mediterranean. Of course, this make-shift construction was in place of what was meant to be a Hitchcockian like seaside venue. Word has it that Simon's even hoped that seagulls would visit. Never the less, Simon's still managed to put on the show that he hoped for.

So he began with "the clichés of what we all think about when we think about cruise", whilst "also want[ing] to bring a new materialization and work with fabrics that [he is] not used to". This exploration led to the embrace of lace, which Simons admitted to having shunned in the past for it's "old, [overtly] romantic and fragile" ways. This propelled him to take on the challenge of turning a 'stuffy' fabric into something "modern, edgy and kind of futuristic" (Simons). The lace allowed him to create a great contrast and interest (for lack of a better word) within each look.

Dynamic and futuristic was the collection, as the historic "Bar" jacket was painted bright red, and even the "New Look" esque skirts were cut down the middle and left flowing. Bright colours were painted in racing stripes and curved panels across the body, alongside metallic foils and other obscure materials. Lace was made to not appear feminine per say, but instead was merely embraced as another texture to the Dior quilt.

Even the idea of a conventional tailored pantsuit was deconstructed, paired with geometric printed crop tops. Azure and bright orange headscarves also featured, in an overall rather impressionist take on Dior, where asymmetry and dynamism was put at the forefront, with "a lot of freedom" (Simons).